Page 30 of Brighter Than Gold

She cleared her throat and glanced back over the breakfast tray, too embarrassed to look at me. She had, after all woken practically climbing onto me not twenty minutes ago.

I continued talking to try and curb the tension. “There is more to it than just the ability to tell if someone is lying. There are ways to spot other emotions like surprise, or anger, or sadness.

There are certain tells that transcend language, age, and gender. Do you want to know how to spot fear in someone?”

Reyah cleared her throat. “All right.”

“Well, their brows could furrow, and their bottom eyelids will tense. If you’re close enough to touch them, their hands and feet will feel cold, the body is pulling all their blood to their heart to prepare to flee.”

Reyah seemed to appreciate my dismissal of the earlier comment.

“Surprise is remarkably similar, the best indicator between fear and surprise is the eyebrows. With surprise, the eyebrows will round instead of tense. Women are remarkably better at reading facial expressions than men.”

“Really?”

“Certainly, you’re far more in tune with emotions. Have you ever glanced at another woman from across a crowded place and known exactly what she was thinking?”

“Yes.”

“It’s inherent in women, a whole veiled conversation that can happen in the fraction of a second.”

“That’s so fascinating,” Reyah said. “And you use this knowledge to interrogate people?”

I looked down and pursed my lips.

“Wait, what did that mean just now? You looked away and your lips went into a line…”

I swallowed and met her gaze. “You’re catching on quickly.” I sighed heavily. “If I’m being honest with you, it was probably shame. Interrogating people isn’t as simple as just asking them questions.”

“Right…”

“I’d rather not share more details,” I said quietly.

“I—I don’t want to hear the details,” she admitted. Reyah turned back to the table. “For Gods’ sake Callan, eat something,” she said noting all the food that was left.

She rose and returned to the bed to free up the chair by the table.

I turned to her and smiled. “Thank you, Prin—thank you, Reyah.”

Chapter7

Reyah

Iwoke to Callan’s steady hands lightly jostling me awake.

“Get up,” he said in a low voice.

Something about his tone made my blood chill with terror.

“What’s going on?” I asked. After waiting another hour or two for Lazio to come see us, I’d curled back into bed and fallen asleep. I wasn’t sure how long it had been, but my muscles felt still and heavy.

“I don’t know,” Callan said listening by the door.

I could hear it now too, hurried footsteps and hushed voices through the hall.

Within seconds we heard the familiar clink of the lock sliding free. Verosa pushed the door open and glanced quickly between us.

“Follow me. Now.”

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